DUALED. This is it. This is the day.

DUALED.
Elsie Chapman.
Today.

Check out what Publishers Weekly said about Elsie's dead awesome dystopian-with-a-twist YA: 

“Stylish, frenetic, and violent, Chapman’s debut is the textual equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie.” 

And in homage to that gorgeous quote, I give you the below:

There is no frying pan scene in DUALED, but if there had been it would have gone like this.

Pg. 142?

West plus swords.

How West and Chord relax after a long day of Alt hunting.




I flew through this book. Intense. Gritty. Perfect. And to top it off there's a tree house. I have a thing for tree houses.

Happy debut day, Elsie. I wish you and your book all the gosh darn luck in the world. Not that you'll need it.

-April

Where to find DUALED:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository

Where to find Elsie:

blog

tumblr

twitter

facebook

Today is PIVOT POINT Day!

When I first started writing this post, on such an illustrious occasion as Pivot Point Day, I found myself reduced to manic, semi-incoherant exclamations like: THIS BOOK! BUY IT! READ! WILL LOVE!
 

Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of myself. I find it so very appropriate that PIVOT POINT arrives just days before Valentines Day. Why? Because in addition to having a fantastic, pulse-pounding mystery, PIVOT POINT positively crackles with romantic chemistry. Crackles, people. It crackles. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Amazing Characters
YA needs more main characters like Addie. She's smart and kind and FUNNY. I love her. If I were a dude, I'd totally ask her out. But I happen to be a female, and therefore, I was busy swooning over the boys in this book. THE BOYS, OH THE BOYS! Duke and Trevor feel completely real and completely lovable in their different ways. I want to wrap Trevor up and take him home with me. (How about it, Kasie? I can have him, right?)

2. Spectacular Dialogue
 Long ago, I proclaimed Kasie West the Unquestioned Queen of Witty Dialogue. There's really not much more I can say about it than that. She's. The. Best. Reading PIVOT POINT, I laughed out loud many times and smiled pretty much the entire time.

3. The Most Inventive Love Triangle Set-up You'll Read
Like I said before, both of the boys register almost dangerous levels of swoon-worthiness. And Kasie presents us with a love triangle that's so fresh and fun, it's the perfect cure for any reader that might be feeling a case of love-triangle fatigue.

4. Lots of These Moments

People, PIVOT POINT is everything I've promised and more. It's truly a fantastic book. And the PERFECT gift for Valentines Day. In fact, I've already planned out a Valentine's Day date with your special someone. Buy PIVOT POINT and one box of chocolate. Cuddle up and read PIVOT POINT while eating said chocolate. Sparks. Will. Fly. That's a promise.

Natalie Whipple Does The Dance Of Shame

So when I realized it was my turn to be Truth Or Dared this week, I went to my Thirteeners "friends" and was all, "Oh crap! I almost forgot! What should I do?"

And then Renee said I should dance because sometimes I brag about my Just Dance skills. Everyone found this to be THE BEST idea and I somehow agreed to it. But the thing is?

I'm terrified to dance in public. Just Dance is awesome because I can do it at home when no one is looking and get a good workout while having fun. I would never actually dance where I could risk someone seeing me. No joke—this is one of my top fears.

This is why you don't ask your friends to dare you—they know your weaknesses.

I had to take specific measures just to be able to stand in front of the camera. First I got glasses, which works out because everyone voted for Gangnam Style and PSY wears glasses. Thank you, PSY, for your excellent fashion choices.

Then I enlisted back up dancers, because I could do this alone. They were much more excited to perform than me, and even dressed up for the occasion. After that there was nothing to do but wait in terror as the song loaded:

Here's the video. I haven't watched it since I edited it. Feel free to stop the viewing any time. I totally understand. Or you can just NOT watch it. I'd be cool with that, too. Really, really cool with it. (But for the record, the back up dancers ARE pretty awesome. And thanks to my poor husband for having to document this horrific scene.)

Today is The Madman's Daughter Day!!

The day has arrived! The day for this:

And believe me when I say: YOU WANT THIS BOOK!!! It is amazing!

But if you don't believe me, how about these other cool people:

"Is it just me or did reading this book make it harder and harder to breathe?" --Adam Levine

"You want this book, mate. It's as good as the scene in AUSTRALIA where I poor a bucket of water over my rippling muscles."  --Hugh Jackman

"If I were alive, this would be the book that reminded me of home." --Charles Dickens

Okay, so maybe you still don't believe me because I just asked my three boyfriends to give a quote. Maybe you think they're biased. Or were doing me a favor. Fine. I'll give you some official quotes then.

“The fast-paced book is rife with excitement, romance, and intrigue.” (School Library Journal (starred review) )

“A deft twist on a familiar classic, THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER has the best of everything: beautiful writing, breakneck pacing, a pulse-pounding mystery, and an irresistible romance.” (Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series )

“Romantic, haunting, and full of spine-tingling thrills, THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER kept me reading late into the night.” (Veronica Rossi, New York Times bestselling author of UNDER THE NEVER SKY )

“Anyone who doesn’t pick up the next volume is mad!” (ALA Booklist )

Yes, those are awesome quotes for an awesome book. This book was truly wonderful. The writing was gorgeous, the story intriguing, and the relationships perfect. I'm not a history expert and therefore have no idea if the following images are even from the right time period, but these are the kinds of images that reading this book brought to my mind:

                                     

(First two images by John Atkinson Grimshaw, ship from Science Photo Library, island image from The Maritime Heritage Project) 

Oh and how can I forget other images that may or may not have come into my mind while reading:

OR maybe:

Yes, this book was one of my favorite reads last year. I adore it.

Happy book birthday, Megan!!! I'm so happy that the world finally gets to read your amazing book!

Mindy McGinnis Takes The Truth

by Mindy McGinnis

Blog follower Becky Sullivan provided us with the truth I'm going to take today - What's the worst or weirdest excuse you use to get out of writing when you have writer's block?

First, I'm going to clarify and say that I don't get writer's block. You can throw stuff at me if you want, but that's just the way it is. If my brain were a heating pad, it would always be set at H and my scalp would have third-degree burns. Luckily for my follicles, this is not the case.

But I'm going to modify the question a bit and then give you a real answer that also deals with bodily functions.

Q: What's the weirdest excuse you use to get out of writing?

A: I have to pee.

No really. I do. I probably have to pee as you're reading this. I know I had to while writing it. Peeing is one of those things that I'm able put off for quite some time without any lasting detrimental effect to my renal system. I know at least one person (ahem, RC Lewis) is going to reply to this and tell me that I AM doing damage to myself, that I simply just don't know it yet. Anyone who hangs out in the AgentQuery Connect chat room will tell you that I don't really pee that often. It appears that my bladder is roughly the size of the Hindenberg.

Also there are rich people in it.

And in using that rather crude metaphor, I have probably sealed my fate and my bladder will in fact, explode at some moment in the future. Rather unexpectedly, I'm sure.

Below you'll find screencapped proof of my refusal to pee when necessary, as well as proof that I'm often guilty of over-share.

You're probably thinking to yourself - Um... Mindy, you're kind of proving yourself wrong here. The whole point of this post is that you're supposed to share what your weirdest excuse is for not writing, but you're telling us you're perfectly capable of holding it?

Yep. Exactly my point.

If I'm getting ready to lay down (yes, long story) and write, very often I'll settle in, put my fingers to the keyboard... and run to the bathroom to relieve the tiniest of tickles. Why?

Because I'm terrified.

I'm afraid that for whatever reason, this time when I put my fingers to the keys nothing is going to come out. I'm afraid that someone flipped the cosmic heating pad switch in my brain and my little red light has been extinguished.

So far, it hasn't been true. I take the pee, my renal system looks around at the circulatory system and says, "What the hell? I hadn't even gotten started!" and I return to the keys. With an empty bladder the heat waves start rolling out of the brain without any excuses.

Maybe someday I'll learn to skip that first part, stop making the excuses and simply write.

But then my renal health might plummet.
__________________________________________

Mindy's debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where water is rare, available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins September 9, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

Megan Shepherd Takes the Truth

Alyssa Sooklal asks: Are you going to publish your books in hardcover and paperback, as well as ebook? Just hardcover or just paperback and ebook? Or just ebook?

We’ve gotten a few similar "truth" questions about e-books: our feelings about them, about e-readers, if they mean the death of independent bookstores or if they're wonderful because they save trees. It seems like e-books are on everyone’s minds. Today I’m tackling this issue with a confession. Yes, I admit it.

I own a Kindle.

Battle of the Books: E-reader vs. Real book

You see, my family has owned an independent bookstore since before I was even alive, so print books have always been more than just a hobby for us: they were our bread-and-butter. As an author, I now make my living writing books regardless of the final format they’re in: print, digital, audio…the bottom line is more or less the same for me.

Also, it gets worse! I actually own two Kindles.

It’s tough admitting this, because so many people I know are die-hard print book readers and in the “e-books will be the death of the independent bookstore” crowd. I still prefer reading print books. But there are a few times when I find my Kindle indispensible. First of all, for travel. YA books are usually quick reads, and I could go through 4-5 of them on a vacation easily. That’s a lot of suitcase room. Second, e-readers are great for digital ARCs. Publishers can send me ARCs directly, which saves on printing, shipping, and marketing costs, and means more people can get ARCs and spread buzz about books.

But the main reason I use my e-reader isn’t to read published books at all. I use it mostly to read my own drafts. When drafting a book in Word or Scrivener, it’s hard to read double-spaced 12-point font  and visualize what it will look like as a final book. So I load all my drafts onto my Kindle, where I can read them as if they were already a real book, and it helps me see the places that are weak and still need work. This has made an enormous difference in my own writing.

All this said, I still prefer print books. Whenever possible, I buy a print book or get it from the library, instead of ordering a digital copy. E-books are often cheaper and instantly delivered, which is a perk, but I just don’t enjoy books as much when I read them on the Kindle. I recently felt as though I was going through a spell of lackluster books, only to realize the books themselves weren’t the problem…reading them on a screen was. When I went back and re-read the hard copy of some of those books, I enjoyed them so much better.

I also don’t think e-books mean the death of print books. My fellow writer Stephen Messer posted this quote from a recent Wall Street Journal article, which I love:

"Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute."

So there you have it: the truth. I own two Kindles. And I love my Kindles—for certain situations. But there is no substitute for holding a real book in your hand, and having a bookshelf full of cherished books.

-----

Megan Shepherd is a young adult writer living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her debut novel, The Madman's Daughter, comes out January 29, 2013 from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins, and is the first in a Gothic thriller trilogy. She’d love to hear from you at her blog, Twitter, Facebook, or on Goodreads.

Kasie West Takes the Dare

Yesterday, in a panic, I sent out a "I still have no idea what I'm going to do for my dare tomorrow" plea on twitter and was saved by the awesome Erin Bowman with:

Erin Bowman ‏@erin_bowman

@KasieWest I dare you to re-stage your cover. Blog the photo results. (You have bangs right? This should be easy ;) ) @thirteeners

She was supported by Megan with:

Megan ‏@Megkification

@erin_bowman @KasieWest @thirteeners I SECOND THAT! :D

That's practically a double dog dare when two people support it, right?

Little did Erin know that my sister, Stephanie Ryan, and her husband, Kevin, are photoshop geniuses. So this dare was meant for me. Not only is my sister a photoshop genius (as you are about to witness) she is an amazing photographer. In fact, you should go 'like' her photography facebook page immediately: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Ryan-Photography/118147241572560?fref=ts 

So here we go. My reenactment of my cover with ME as the subject: 

Now you can see why a few people that know me in real life have done a small double take when looking at my real cover. Also, funny story, when my editor met me for the first time (my book cover in her possession, ready to be shared with me for the first time) she said, "I didn't know you had bangs." So I promise neither me nor my editor picked a cover model that bore a slight resemblance to me on purpose. Ha.  

But that got me thinking, if I were to do a book cover to represent my own two possible futures and my own story. What would it look like? The following is probably pretty close. The future me on the left represents a life where I find balance. The future me on the right represents never leaving my precioussss writing chair again. :) Which fate am I going to choose?!?

I had to keep the "mock cover" disclaimer on this second picture as well just in case. 

Thanks for the dare, Erin (and Megan). That was fun. And seriously, thanks Stephanie Ryan, you rock. Send in more truth or dares for us to choose from here. Up next week: Megan Shepherd. 

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Kasie West writes YA paranormal. She graduated from Fresno State University with a BA degree that has nothing to do with writing. She earned her masters in Junior Mint eating (which is awarded after eating your millionth King Size box....and is now working on her PhD). She loves sappy alternative rock ballads and reading way past her bedtime.

Her debut novel PIVOT POINT will be out with HarperTeen February 12, 2013

Today Is PROPHECY Day! Huzzah!

Guys! It's me, Natalie, and I'm so very beyond excited to have the privilege of being the Thirteener who gets to talk about PROPHECY by our very own Ellen Oh.

Because I freaking love this book. Like, you have no idea. I know I love a book when it makes me want to draw—that's pretty much my brain saying, "I wish these characters were mine and I need to make them belong to me somehow!"

Not every book incites the need to draw in me, but from page one of PROPHECY I could feel my left hand itching to sketch Kira's yellow eyes, the palace where she lived and defended her kingdom from demons, the haetae her father gave her, the monks and cute warrior or two she met along her grand journey...

Can the animators of Avatar: The Last Airbender just adapt this for me, please? Because, c'mon.

PROPHECY is the story of a girl who is scorned for her gifts instead of revered. The story of a kingdom on the brink of destruction by demons, the war that ensues, and a fresh addition to The Hero's Quest tradition. And at the heart of it all, PROPHECY is a story about family.

So if you're looking for a book packed with adventure and non-stop action, look no further! It's the perfect book for the teen who prefers battles, legends, and non-western fantasy.

And because I love Ellen and PROPHECY so much, I want to end this debut post with some art I drew especially for the occasion.

These are two of my favorite characters from PROPHECY—Jaewon and Seung. They make such a great duo. And, hello, Jaewon. Mmm.

And this is my girl, Kira. Man, I love her and her "tiger eyes" and her kick butt warrior skills and her love of her family. She is everything I'd want my daughter to be.

Happy debut day, Ellen! I hope you enjoy every minute of it, and I can't wait to run out to my local bookstore and get a copy for me AND my little sister. You guys should buy it too, just sayin'.